


Not On Drugs

by nexparker



Series: Blood On Your Hands [5]
Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 乐华七子NEXT | NEX7, 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, I Watched Too Much Grey's Anatomy, M/M, Medical Trauma, Whump, doctor!yanchen, gang!awaken-f, gang!nex7, gangmember!zeren, gramarie, oaca, yuehua - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-01 20:06:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16290917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nexparker/pseuds/nexparker
Summary: “Baby listen please, I’m not on drugs, I’m not on drugs, I’m just in love.”Italics: FlashbackWord Count: 5.04kWarnings: blood, swearing, kinda graphic descriptions of wounds, really inaccurate medicine, surgery, tropes, tooth-rotting fluff.I’m kinda a slut for whump, so like, sorry if you ain’t into that ig? lol enjoy this mess





	Not On Drugs

Loud sirens filled Zhengting’s head, drowning everything else out as he stared at the ambulances that stopped near the emergency room doors, lights colored red and blue flashing across his face. The voices of the paramedics were indistinguishable, just like he remembered them. Time passed so slow it felt like it had stopped, seconds feeling like years. It was if any movement the leader made would shatter the glass box he felt that his body was trapped in, forcing him to keep his feet planted on the ground. 

Zhengting watched as the doctors crowded around the back of the ambulance, already starting to work on the new patient, whose face he caught a glimpse of. Even with everything seeming to have a fuzzy glow around the edges, Zhengting knew who it was. Another figure jumped out of the ambulance, movement frantic, with tears coming down his face. He wore a dark jacket that clearly had been very well loved, judging by the fading of the leather.

It was the same one Zhengting wore now. 

The leader watched himself run to the side of the gurney, almost able to feel his heart pounding in his own chest, mimicking how he felt in the past. Even with the loud sirens, he could hear his own screams and pleads as he leaned over the body on the gurney loud and clear. 

Drawing in a sharp breath, Zhengting closed his eyes, feeling too unstable to watch himself be dragged away from the injured body by another doctor. The familiar voice signalling that the patient’s heart had stopped rang in his head and caused a sharp pain behind his eyes. 

‘Snap out of this. This is the past. You are in the present.’ He tried to tell himself only to be drowned out by the memories of the sirens and his own begging. The sound of the defibrillator brought tightness in his chest. What Zhengting heard next reminded him of how he felt that night: like he was dying. 

“Time of death, 11:26 PM.” 

Opening his eyes, the noise stopped and the hallucination was gone. All that the leader was left with were tears falling off his face.

Zhengting’s brain was playing tricks on him, and he was falling for them.

* * *

“Oh my goddddd... Am I dead yet?” Zeren moaned, trying to adjust his position in his bed, which was growing increasingly uncomfortable now that the painkillers from surgery were wearing off. The brunette tried to fall asleep as he was bored waiting on his members to arrive, but it seemed damn near impossible to him now. He failed to notice the unfamiliar face standing at the foot of his bed. 

“You better not be, I have a gay friend in need of something better to invest his time in than organizing the medical supplies in the closets and eating hospital food.” Zhou Rui stated, not looking up from the chart on the table.

“Holy shit-” Zeren froze, finally taking his notice. 

Zhou Rui looked up at this. 

“Hey.” He said, giving the gang member a small smile. 

“H-hey.” Zeren replied weakly. 

“Zeren, right?” the resident spoke again, not giving the other any time to answer as he interrupted him. “Wait, why am I asking? It’s literally right here.”  Zhou Rui held up what Zeren presumed to be his chart.

The gang member stared at the man in the sky blue scrubs, trying to figure out what exactly was happening.

“Uh, who are you, exactly?” Zeren asked slowly. 

“That depends on why you’re asking. Anyways, I need better detail on your medical history. Do you have any hereditary disease in the family we should be aware of?” the other asked. 

“W-what?” 

“Y’know, like, anything you may pass onto your potential children.” Zhou Rui waited for an answer from the brunette, but never didn’t receive one before the door slammed open and a seemingly very frantic Yanchen ran in and pulled the other resident out by his ear.

“Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!” 

“What the hell is wrong with-” was all that could be heard before the door shut again, leaving Zeren alone to try and determine what was going on. 

The next time the door opened, a very red faced version of the younger resident entered the room looking very flustered. 

“Do I want to know?” Zeren asked, looking Yanchen up and down. 

“No. No, you do not. I’m sorry about that please forget anything he said, he’s an idiot.” Yanchen breathed out. 

“Alright then.” Zeren looked down at his hands awkwardly, playing with the pulse oximeter again. 

“Your friends should be in soon, supposedly they went to get food before coming to see you and the nurses couldn’t find them anywhere.” Yanchen reported quickly, trying to get out of the room to escape the awkward tension as fast as possible. 

“Yeah, okay, thanks.” the brunette replied, not looking up from the clip on his finger. He heard the door open and close and waited until his room as quiet again to look up.

At least, the whole spectacle made Zeren forget about the discomfort living in his side just for a little bit. 

Twenty-something minutes later, the door swung open again and the rest of Yuehua filed into the room, minus their leader. Zeren immediately tried to sit up out of habit, instantly regretting this when his arm brushed against his side a little too hard for his liking. 

“Lie back down, you idiot.” Wenjun spoke sharply, the mere tone of his voice being more than enough to get the brunette to resume his resting position. 

The air was so thick in the room that Zeren almost felt his heartbeat get faster with how hard he was trying to breathe normally. He tried to break the silence. 

“Hey, guys.” Zeren gave an awkward wave.

“You’re going to have to do better than ‘hey, guys’ to explain this one.” Quanzhe scoffed.

“Listen, it’s a long story. But it’s not all my fault, okay? How was I supposed to know that there was a piece of metal stuck inside of me?!” He tried to defend himself.

“Oh my god. He’s so stupid.” Quanzhe retorted. “Chengcheng, tell him he’s stupid.” 

“You’re stupid.” Chengcheng agreed, earning him a glare from Zeren.

“Enough.” Wenjun interrupted their ment. “Even if you were that out of it, you should have at least been coherent enough to tell us that something was wrong. We can’t read your fucking mind, Zeren.” 

“Minghao did it.” Zeren pointed out, nodding towards the youngest who stood by the door with folded arms. Minghao snorted quietly to himself, rolling his eyes. 

“Leave him out of this.” Wenjun pulled the injured member’s attention back to him. “You’re lucky Zhengting isn’t here. You’ll be lucky if you leave this hospital with all of your organs in the right place.” the second in command sighed. 

“Guys, I think you’re overreacting a little bit.” Zeren replied, looking around to each member. “It happened, It’s over, I’m fine now, see?” He gave them a thumbs up.

“Welp, I’m convinced.” Chengcheng remarked sarcastically.

“No, I’m serious. It’s really nothing now. I’m supposed to be discharged soon, so like-” Zeren was interrupted by Minghao speaking for the first time. Heads snapped to the blonde, who instantly seemed a lot older than 16.

“ **What do you not get about the fact that you almost died?** ” He asked, anger present in his voice. The other members looked back towards the member lying in the bed, waiting on a response.

Zeren wasn’t quite sure how to reply, so he stayed quiet. The only sound that filled the room was the sound of the EKG beeping softly next to his head. 

Scoffing, the youngest continued. 

“I knew this entire time- I knew that you were hurting. I knew that it was hard for you to deal with, but  **fuck** , Zeren, not this hard!” Minghao scolded, voice breaking a little bit like he was holding back tears. Zeren looked down, his heart pounding hard against the wall of his chest, making the monitor beep louder. 

“I just want to know why. Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“I-I don’t k-know.” the brunette stuttered in an almost innocent manner, spitting out the lie through his teeth like it left a foul taste in his mouth. 

Despite the terribly told lie, the members seemed to soften. 

Xinchun was the first to approach his bed, sitting on top the covers to get Zeren’s attention. He didn’t say anything, but the warmth radiating off of his body comforted Zeren a little bit, helping him to calm down just slightly.

Each member held their breath, waiting for someone, anyone, to break the silence. Taking this as a cue to speak, Zeren attempted an apology.

“I’m sorry.” the brunette mumbled quietly. 

“As long as ‘I’m sorry’ translates to ‘It won’t happen again’, it’s okay.” Wenjun replied softly, yet with authority. 

The room became still once more. Minghao dug dirt out from underneath his fingernails, refusing to look the brunette in the eye again. It would take a lot more than sorry to fix this, at least for the youngest. The others, however, were more pliant.

Quanzhe spoke up once more from his position in the chair next to the bed.

“You better never hide anything like that ever again.” He said. “I never want to have to remove coughed up blood from my clothes again. That shit stains.” 

Zeren snorted, a small smile finding its way onto his face. 

“Sorry if my internal bleeding inconvenienced you.” He replied, rolling his eyes slightly. He had said it sarcastically, but the feelings behind the quip hung over Zeren’s head like a dark cloud.

“It’s about to inconvenience us a lot more. You wouldn’t happen to have some amazing health insurance policy that you’ve been hiding from us, would you?” Wenjun asked, feigning hopefulness. 

“No, but I think I know a guy who can help.” Zeren replied, eyes catching a glimpse of Yanchen through the window of his room, looking to be on his way to lunch.

* * *

“I don’t know what I’m doing, Linong. I’m in way over my head.” Yanchen groaned, picking at his sandwich on the cafeteria tray. 

“What do you mean?” the nurse replied between mouthfuls of fries. 

“What do you mean ‘What do you mean?’? Everything is falling apart. That attending I was with in surgery is breathing down my neck about the case that came in last night, ” Yanchen said. 

“You mean the gang-” the resident quickly picked up fries, shoving them into his friend’s mouth to shut him up. 

“Be quiet.” Yanchen hissed. 

“Sorry.” Linong replied after swallowing.

“Anyways, that’s happening. I’m surprised the police haven’t shown up yet, honestly. No one comes into the ER with an injury like that and leaves without being questioned.” Yanchen commented, pulling the bread off the sandwich. “Not to mention the fact that Zhou Rui-ge has made it damn near impossible for me to enter the patient’s room without being harassed.” 

“He means well.” Linong pointed out, taking a sip of apple juice.

“Yeah, well, he’s got a funny way of showing it.” the resident snorted. 

“He won’t be a patient here forever.” Linong reminded his friend. “Just like, get through these couple of days and go back to living your normal life.” 

“How?” Yanchen wondered aloud. “Whenever I go into his room, my hands get all gross and sweaty and my heart starts to beat faster and suddenly I lose the ability to speak without a stutter.” 

“That’s called attraction. I’d be happy to point you towards a psychology textbook in the research library, If you’d like.” Linong remarked.

“Oh, shut up. I think he just intimidates me is all.” Yanchen rolled his eyes at his friend.

 Linong suddenly leaned forwards, placing a hand on Yanchen’s shoulder before starting to speak softly.

“I just want you to know, whatever urges you are feeling, it’s part of life and growing up and-” Yanchen shoved the nurse’s hand away in protest and disgust. 

“Oh my god, you’re just as bad as Zhou Rui-ge! I’m leaving, oh my god.” Yanchen whined. 

“I did a psych rotation, I can recognize these things when I see them.” Linong shrugged. 

“I’m going to cut Rui-ge’s ponytail off for corrupting you.” the resident replied, pointing a finger at the younger before picking up his coat and stethoscope and hurrying out of the cafeteria, leaving his food almost entirely untouched. 

“He acts like he had no part in corrupting me himself...” Linong mumbled to himself with a sigh before picking up the forgotten sandwich and taking a bite. 

* * *

Wenjun stared down at his phone, waiting for some sort of response from Zhengting. He had texted the leader 25 minutes prior, asking his ETA back at the hospital. Frowning when he saw no new notifications, Wenjun tucked the phone back into his hoodie pocket and leaned back in the chair in the corner of Zeren’s room. 

The small TV hanging on the wall opposite the bed played some cringy soap opera rerun, providing entertainment for most of the members. 

Chengcheng sat on the floor in front of the bed, back leaning against the end table, neck craned at an awkward angle to see the TV. 

Xinchun was sitting cross legged at the end of Zeren’s bed, fingers playing with the fraying blankets that lay on top of the injured member. 

Quanzhe was asleep in the only other chair in the room, having not gotten much sleep the night before due to anxieties crowding his brain. 

Zeren looked to be on the verge of falling asleep himself, the drugs coming through his IV undoubtedly still affecting his body. 

Minghao, however, was nowhere to be found. He left the room some 25 minutes ago, claiming to need to pee. He still hadn’t returned, which was beginning to worry the second in command. 

Wenjun thought quietly for a moment, the dramatics playing out on the TV screen and the soft beeping of the monitors by Zeren’s head acting as background noise. Zhengting definitely should have returned by now, but Wenjun wouldn’t be surprised if he got held up somewhere and lost track of time. He just wished the leader would return his texts. 

Deciding that Zhengting was smart enough to handle himself, Wenjun thought of the youngest. Minghao had been on edge the entire time they had been at the hospital, maybe even a little before it. He didn’t eat anything despite pleas from Wenjun, he barely slept and seemed to only speak when absolutely necessary. It’s almost as if he had gone into autopilot. Whatever the reason being, the tallest was sure it was a sort of defense mechanism. Minghao had difficulty trusting people, and Zeren broke that trust. 

Pushing off the chair he was sitting in, Wenjun captured the attention from the coherent members in the room, telling them he was going to get something to eat. Nods came from Xinchun and Chengcheng and Wenjun was sure he heard a grunt of acknowledgement from Zeren. Leaving the room, the second in command looked down the hall, trying to decide where to go. 

Passing by different nurses and doctors in an assortment of multi-colored scrubs, Wenjun wandered down a hallway, eventually reaching the cafeteria that 5 of the members had been in that morning. The atrium was open, windows on all sides showcasing the cold, gray clouds covering the sky outside. It didn’t take long to register the fact that among all the faces in the room, Minghao’s was not present. 

Sighing, the tall member left the cafeteria before getting purposely lost in the confusing corridors of the hospital, hoping to find a familiar face. Passing radiology, Wenjun pushed a door open that led him outside. The cold was a shock to his system, penetrating his skin instantly. He pulled his hoodie closer around him, knowing it wouldn’t do much anyways. The wind whistled in his ears, making his eyes water and his hair fly. 

The door had opened to something like a terrace a few levels off the ground. There were plants that Wenjun was sure looked beautiful in the spring, but were currently wilted because of the cold. There was also only one person sitting alone on a bench near the edge of the terrace.

Minghao. 

“Are you insane?” Wenjun called to him. “You’ll get sick if you stay out here!” the second in command walked over to the boy in the hoodie, stopping about 5 feet away from the bench the youngest sat on, facing away from Wenjun. 

No response. 

“Come inside. You need to warm up.” Wenjun insisted, his arms crossed over his chest as a particularly strong wind ripped past him. 

No sound came from the blonde, who sat completely still.

“Huang Minghao.” Wenjun tried to garner the attention of his friend once more with no success. 

Moving closer, the older member came to kneel down in front of the blonde, still unable to catch his eyes. 

“Listen, you don’t have to talk to me now or anything, but please just come inside.” Wenjun coaxed. 

“I don’t want to go back in there.” The youngest finally spoke, voice hard. 

“I know you don’t, but I’m trying to make sure you don’t have to go back inside because you have frostbite.” 

Minghao finally met the older’s eyes. 

His eyes were red, whether is be from crying or from lack of sleep, Wenjun wasn’t sure.

“Please?” Wenjun asked gently, to which the blonde sighed before pushing himself off the bench. 

“C’mon. You need to eat.” the older wrapped his arm around Minghao’s shoulders, pulling him towards the door separating the cold, winter air and the warm interior of the hospital. 

* * *

Yanchen stared at the clock hanging above the nurse’s station, watching the seconds tick down until 4. There were just a few minutes left until the end of visiting hours, meaning he’d have to enter Zeren’s room to kick all his friends out. 

The resident wasn’t sure if he was ready to handle another one on one interaction with the brunette after what happened with Zhou Rui that morning, but it wasn’t like he had a choice. The nurses and other residents avoided Zeren’s room like he had the plague and Yanchen didn’t blame them; the gang member had such a physical effect on him that if he wasn’t a doctor, he would be worried he  **did** catch something.

Tearing his gaze away from the clock, the resident looked down at his pager, almost willing it to go off, saying he was needed in the ER for some huge trauma or even to get lab results for another patient. Whatever deity Yanchen prayed to seemed to have seen him suffering, and in that moment, the small machine beeped. The resident’s heart leaped, glad he would be able to push off dealing with Zeren for a bit longer, that is, until he saw who the page was for. 

“Why can’t I catch a break?” Yanchen grumbled to himself, picking up his tablet and shuffling to the  **OTHER** very familiar room on the same floor. Before entering, Yanchen sighed tiredly, trying to muster the patience to get through the rest of his shift. 

Pushing the door open, the resident was greeted immediately. 

“Hey Doctor Zhou! Long time no see, but I figured you’d be back. People tend to want another look at my pretty face.” 

“Hello, Mr. Lin.” Yanchen replied through gritted teeth. 

“Always with the formalities,” Yanjun laughed. “Anyways, I was just wondering about when my surgery would be taking place? They said there would be someone in here to do the preparations like an hour ago, but no one came.”

“Huh, that’s weird.” Yanchen responded. 

Unlocking his tablet to access the surgical schedule, Yanchen noticed the alert in the notifications that no one had begun the prep for Yanjun. 

Noticing the silence from the doctor, Yanjun lifted his head a little, trying to see what Yanchen was looking at on the tablet screen, without much success. 

“Everything okay?” 

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Sorry, we’re not usually this slow. We had some slight...  ** _scheduling challenges_**.” Yanchen said forcefully, tone showcasing his spite for Zhou Rui. 

“I think I’ll be able to let you off the hook, if you stay to do the prep and let me look at you a little longer.” Yanjun winked, making the resident blush (whether it be from being flustered or out of embarrassment for Yanjun, the world may never know).

It was either prep Yanjun, or do another post-op examination on Zeren; Yanchen wasn’t exactly overwhelmed by his options. Deciding to bite the bullet on this one, Yanchen sighed and grabbed the supplies he needed to prep Yanjun. 

“I’ll do it.” the resident announced flatly. Yanchen swore he never saw a bigger grin on Yanjun’s face.

* * *

“Do you think I’m pushing too hard, Nongnong?” Zhou Rui asked the nurse, shifting his feet that rested on the desk in the conference room. 

“Eh,” the younger shrugged, not looking up from the magazine in his hands. 

“You try and get your best friend laid, and they almost end up murdering you for it. I can’t believe it.” Zhou Rui sighed. 

“He’s just awkward. He doesn’t really know what he’s doing in these situations.” Linong replied. 

“Well, that’s why I’m trying to help him learn!” the resident defended himself. “Sometimes you gotta toss someone in the water before they learn how to swim!” 

“I have yet to hear of one instance where that philosophy has worked, but okay, sure.” 

Zhou Rui scowled at his friend. 

“He needs something interesting to happen in his life.” the older said, catching sight of Yanchen leaving Yanjun’s room through the blinds of the conference room window. “All he ever does is eat, sleep, and work.”

“I mean, that’s respectable. A guy does what he’s gotta do to pay off medical school loans.” Linong pointed out. 

“But there’s no fun in that! He just needs to live a little! Get drunk, hook up with someone, get arrested, who knows!?  **Just something!** ” Zhou Rui exclaimed. 

“Aaaand you’ve lost me. You act like the fact that he stitched someone up on his bathroom counter is nothing.” the nurse let the magazine in his hands fall down to his lap. “And since when is getting an STD fun? And why didn’t I get the memo?” 

“You act like Yanchen will even be able to leave the bar with a guy with his current flirting skills, let alone go home with them.” the resident snorted. 

“Hey, don’t roast him when he’s not here to at least defend himself!” 

“Am I wrong, though?” Zhou Rui asked. 

Linong said nothing. 

“Exactly.” 

The younger rolled his eyes, picking up his magazine once more. 

“Whatever, I’m sure Yanchen will thank me later.” Zhou Rui said, pulling his feet off the table and standing up from his seat, ready to leave the room. 

“Thank you or murder you?” Linong muttered from behind the pages of ads. 

“I heard that!” the resident called over his shoulder as he walked out of the room.

* * *

“Are you sure there’s no way to turn this thing off?” Quanzhe referenced the beeping of the EKG by Zeren’s head. 

“Believe me, I’ve tried. I’m going stir-crazy because of it.” Zeren grunted, head flopping back on his pillow. 

“How are you expected to get any sleep?” the blonde asked. 

“They’ve got good drugs here,” Zeren shrugged. “I swear I’ve slept better here than I have at home in months, even if it feels like I’m literally lying on cobblestone.”

The door opened, interrupting their conversation. The noise made Chengcheng and Xinchun tear their focus away from the TV, slightly disoriented and dazed expressions on each of their faces. 

Yanchen walked into the room, carrying a basket of medical tools in one hand and a tablet in the other. The resident looked just as tired, if not more tired than Zeren; his feet dragged on the floor slightly with every step, his eyelids drooped a little and he had deep purple bruises under his eyes from the lack of sleep throughout his residency. 

“Hey guys, I hate to break it to you, but visiting hours are over.” Yanchen announced. 

“Oh, okay.” Xinchun muttered, trying to pull himself back to reality after being absorbed within the television for so long.

“Wenjun-ge, Zhengting-ge and Minghao still aren’t back yet though.” Quanzhe protested. 

“That’s okay. We can wait for them in the lobby. I’ll text Wenjun-ge to let him know.” Chengcheng spoke up, as he began to stand up and stretch, back stiff from sitting on the floor for so long.

“Are you sure we have to go now?” Quanzhe asked worriedly. 

 “Visiting hours actually ended 20 minutes ago, but I got wrapped up with another patient, so yeah. I’m sorry. I have to give your friend here his post-op checkup.” Yanchen told him. 

“Can’t wait.” Zeren replied sarcastically. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay?” 

The members gave their friend a few soft, yet exhausted smiles before saying goodbye and leaving the room, shutting the door quietly behind them. 

“Caught up with a patient? Am I competing for you attention now?” Zeren joked, coaxing a small laugh out of the resident.

“It’s just this other guy,” Yanchen set the box of supplies down next to his tablet on the table at the end of Zeren’s bed. 

“Another GUY?! Oh man, it really is a competition.” Zeren whined, making Yanchen laugh harder. The resident was glad he wasn’t the one hooked up the the EKG, because then Zeren would be able to see how hard his heart was pounding in his chest. 

“Don’t worry, he’s not a solid competitor.” Yanchen told him, walking over to the bedside. He pulled something off the wall above Zeren’s head after putting gloves on. The brunette soon learned it was a thermometer. 

“Open your mouth.” Yanchen ordered. The gang member followed orders and the stick soon rested under his tongue. After the beep, it was quickly removed. 

“No fever. That’s a good sign.” the resident reported as he pushed the covering on the stick into the trash can by the bed. 

“Hallelujah.” Zeren hummed. 

Moving on, Yanchen’s eyes scanned the monitors for a few seconds, absorbing all the numbers and symbols that Zeren had spent a solid hour trying to decipher almost instantly. 

“Blood pressure is up, oxygen levels look okay...” he muttered to himself. 

“Does that mean I can shake this thing now?” Zeren interrupted the older’s thought process, pointing to the cannula that wrapped around his face. 

“Let me get through the rest of this, and we can see how you do without it.” Yanchen responded, the words flowing out of him as part of habit. 

The brunette fell quiet once more.

After listening to Zeren’s lungs (which, by the way, Zeren thought was the most awkward process he had ever experienced), the older started digging around in the box he brought. 

“What are you looking for?” he asked.

“You’re not gonna like it if I tell you.” Yanchen warned, causing Zeren’s heart to sink. 

“You don’t mean...” the younger trailed off. 

The resident shot him a sympathetic look, confirming his fears. 

“Oh my god. You’ve gotta be kidding.” 

The supplies Yanchen removed from the box were ones that Zeren knew were used to draw blood. 

“I have to get another blood sample to test if the antibiotics are working.” Yanchen told him sadly. 

“Of course.” Zeren sighed, anxiety making his voice thick. He moved his left arm towards the older, who hesitated before tying a tourniquet above the younger’s elbow. The brunette turned his head to the right slightly, attempting to block his view from what was happening.

“I’ll be quick. Just focus on something else.” Yanchen reassured him, trying not to notice how Zeren’s heart rate spiked at the cold feeling of the alcohol swab on his arm. 

“What’s his name? The other guy, I mean.” Zeren asked in an attempt to distract himself. 

“I’m not sure I’m allowed to tell you that.” Yanchen replied, half-teasing as he took the cap off the needle and attached it to the collection tube. 

“C’mon. You’re just telling me his name. If you’re gonna stab me in the arm, I think I should at least get some dirt on this dude so I know what I’m up against.” Zeren persuaded, masking the fear bubbling in his stomach. 

“Fine.” Yanchen relented, lining the needle up to the brunette’s arm. “Yanjun. His name is Lin Yanjun.” 

“He sounds like a real pric-ow!” Zeren flinched as he felt the sting of metal bite his arm. 

“Aaaaand, done.” Yanchen announced a few seconds later, pulling the needle away from the younger’s arm. 

“That hurt.” Zeren grunted as Yanchen pressed a cotton ball into the puncture wound. 

“At least it was quick.” 

“Have you hit your blood quota now?” the younger asked sarcastically. 

“For today.” the resident replied. 

“Oh my god. You mean I have to do this again?”

“Yeah. But you survived! Now you’ll only have to survive it about 3 more times!” Yanchen said, putting the blood sample into a specimen bag. 

“I’m gonna die.” Zeren joked.

“Not on my watch, you won’t.” the older told him, pulling his gloves off. 

Deciding to have some fun, Zeren tested the waters.

“Guess you should stay here overnight to make sure my heart doesn’t stop or anything.” Zeren stated, the bold words making Yanchen almost drop his tablet that he had just picked up. 

“I-I t-think you’ll be f-fine.” the resident started stumbling over his words, trying to gather himself. 

“I don’t know. I’m feeling kind of lightheaded now.” Zeren replied, his words not completely far off from the truth. 

“I-it’ll pass. I’ll have them b-bring you s-something to eat.” Yanchen said. “I-I have to deliver this t-to the l-lab. Uh, I’ll b-be back to check on y-you tomorrow morning.G-goodnight.” 

Zeren had to hold back his laughter as he watched the resident quickly gather his things and stumble out of the room, redder than an tomato.

Yanchen slammed the door behind him accidentally, almost dropping half of the supplies in the box in his arms. He leaned back against the wood, trying with all his willpower to calm down. His face was flushed and his heart was pounding, skipping a beat every so often. 

Zeren had Yanchen in the palm of his hand, backed against a wall. He was anchored to his spot and even if he wanted to escape, he couldn’t. 

But it wasn’t surprising, especially when many people consider oxytocin, also known as the ‘love hormone’, even more dangerous than a drug.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a WHOLE MESS and I’m very aware. I’m sorry but I’m also kind of not?
> 
> Anyways, thank you for all of your continued support and I hope you keep enjoying this! Sorry it took so long, I had literally no inspiration for like a month. 
> 
> Grace


End file.
